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The 4th annual Zebra Day at Wexford Montessori Academy was a success! Wexford’s staff and students came together to dress in their favorite zebra gear. Katie gave presentations to children from kindergarten through eighth grade about invisible illnesses and the importance of having empathy and compassion.

Thank you to the Okemos-Haslett Rotary for having Katie as a guest speaker on May 19, 2015! It was an honor to be able to educate their members on and build awareness about invisible illnesses and the Life as a Zebra Foundation!

Life as a Zebra Foundation continues our partnership with Live Love Michigan! For their Hold on to Hope Campaign, Live Love Michigan has designed unique, one-of-a-kind Life as a Zebra apparel! Live Love Michigan donates a portion of the proceeds from the sales of the apparel back to Life as a Zebra Foundation to help us continue our mission of raising awareness and funds for research for various invisible, hard-to-diagnose illnesses.

Check out Live Love Michigan’s limited-edition zebra apparel now by clicking here!

Lansing, MI – The Life as a Zebra Foundation (LAAZF) is pleased to partner with The University of Toledo Medical Center (UTMC) to support Dr. Blair Grubb’s groundbreaking Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) research.

Dr. Grubb is a world-recognized expert in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia and POTS, a debilitating disease that causes dizziness, sudden fainting, and an inability to carry on the basic functions of daily life.

Recently, Dr. Grubb and his colleagues at UTMC have embarked on a new research project that holds great promise for unlocking the underlying cause of POTS.

Dr. Grubb and associates from UTMC are coming to LAAZF’s 4th Annual Benefit Concert for Invisible Illness Awareness & Research on April 11, 2015 to briefly speak on his team’s innovative POTS research. UTMC is a banner sponsor for the event.

At the gala, LAAZF will present Dr. Grubb with funding for his continued research.

OKEMOS, MI – Dr. Christine Tenaglia is proud to announce that her dentistry practice’s September fundraising efforts raised $200 for the Lansing-based, Life as a Zebra Foundation.

For the month of September, the office was decorated with University of Michigan and Michigan State accessories. Patients were able to choose a University of Michigan or Michigan State accessory and had the opportunity to add money to their school’s donation bank.

Michigan State’s donation bank had the most contributions and the fundraiser brought in $100. Dr. Tenaglia matched that amount and presented Katie Dama Jaskolski, President and Co-Founder of the Life as a Zebra Foundation, a $200 check on Tuesday, October 21, 2014.

“It means a lot to me and our foundation that Dr. Tenaglia and her team devoted a whole month to educating patients about these often overlooked invisible illnesses, while also raising funds for Life as a Zebra. It is because of doctors like her that we are able to continue to carry out our mission to try and make a difference in the lives of people with invisible illnesses,” says Dama Jaskolski.

96% of people with chronic medical conditions live with a condition that is invisible. Invisible illnesses are chronic conditions that are not easily observed by the general public, and are often not readily seen by medical professionals. Invisible illnesses include lupus, fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis, rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, Crohn’s disease, and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, among others.

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Dysautonomia

Dysautonomia literally means dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is the master regulator of organ function throughout the body. It is involved in the control of heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, respiration, digestion and other vital functions.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Individuals with EDS have a defect in their connective tissue, the tissue that provides support to many body parts such as the skin, muscles and ligaments. The fragile skin and unstable joints found in EDS are the result of faulty collagen.

Vasculitis

Vasculitis is a family of rare and chronic autoimmune diseases, all characterized by the inflammation of blood vessels. There are more than 15 different vasculitis diseases, all of which can affect people of various ages, races, and genders.